Enriching multilingual study
Looking beyond the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, the cultivation of personnel that can use foreign languages other than English to offer international contributions is an important theme. We must increase the ability to communicate proactively in various languages, and deepen understanding of other cultures.
That is why the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education is holding foreign language lecture courses targeting metropolitan high school students in order to enrich an environment allowing study of various languages. These will promote cultural exchange, dispatch foreign language lectures to club activities involving the study of foreign languages, establish non-English foreign language elective courses in metropolitan high schools, and more.
Foreign language lecture courses
Among metropolitan high school students, trial lectures in 7 non-English languages (Chinese, French, German, Korean, Spanish, Russian and Italian) are being implemented for applicants from the 2015 fiscal year.
The content allows students to deepen not only their language ability, but knowledge and understanding related to customs and culture.
Content implemented in the 2017 fiscal year
Courses with different commencement periods will be held in seven languages.(The content is the same)
- Course beginning in August: August 2017 5 times in total
- Course beginning in October: October – November 2017 5 times in total
Pamphlet for the recruitment of students for the 2017 Foreign Language Experience Course（PDF 1.2MB）
Content implemented in the 2016 fiscal year
10 lectures will be held for each of the 7 languages.
Pictures of 2016 Foreign language lecture course
Period: October 2015 - March 2016（PDF 980KB）
Content implemented in the 2015 fiscal year
2 types of courses (beginner/advanced) will be implemented for each of the 7 languages.
- Beginner course: October - December 2015, 5 sessions total（PDF 1.5MB）
- Advanced course: January - March 2016, 5 sessions total（PDF 1.8MB）
Attendee impressions
(Beginner course)
- I’ve made the first step to studying abroad.
- My desire to work abroad in the future has increased.
- Getting to listen to a native speaker lecturer was a formative experience for me.
- Learning a language other than English deepened my cultural understanding.
- Seeing the enthusiasm of students from other schools had a real effect on me.
(Advanced course)
- I’ve laid the groundwork for language to use abroad.
- I’ve been taking lessons at school as well, but I’m happy to say I was able to deepen my understanding further.
- There were many opportunities to speak, letting me acquire better pronunciation.
- The stories based on the native lecturer’s experiences were very interesting, and I enjoyed every lecture I went to.
- Thanks to these lectures, I deepened my interest and understanding in foreign languages and other cultures. I want to continue my studies.
Promoting foreign language club activities
With regard to cultural exchange and club activities involving the study of a foreign language, we dispatch native foreign language lectures suitable to each activity to support said activities.
Content implemented in the 2015 fiscal year
Foreign language lecturers were dispatched to 21 schools, and we supported initiatives unique to each school.
Examples of activities
- Self-introduction and greeting practice to prepare for Taiwanese exchange students coming to Japan
- Spanish practice using English
- Shopping practice in French
- Experience wearing traditional Korean garments
- Number reading practice using a traditional German card game
Quotes from the participants
- I was able to use the knowledge I learned to perform greetings and self-introductions in a cultural exchange with foreigners.
- I think that knowing the language linked me to gaining an understanding of that country.
- I was able to hone my pronunciation and learn to sing songs from that country.
- I was able to enjoy studying a second language, further deepening my interest in it.
- I thought that I would like to keep on studying this for a while.
* We will dispatch foreign language lecturers to 21 schools and support initiatives unique to each school in the 2016 fiscal year as well. We will publish specific activity details in the future.
Establishment of non-English foreign language elective courses in Tokyo Metropolitan high schools
At present, 56 schools in the metropolitan area have established courses in 7 languages (Chinese, French, German, Korean, Spanish, Russian and Italian), and maintain environments allowing the study of various languages.
